Friday

Holden Star

On Tuesday night in Salt Lake City, I stood in a room with thousands of people and felt something shift inside me.

We went to see Brandi Carlisle.
I thought we were going to a concert.


Instead, we walked into something that felt holy .

Her voice...clear, strong, impossibly tender, filled the arena in a way that made you forget there were walls. We laughed. We cried. We sang until our throats felt raw and grateful. There were moments when she stepped back from the microphone and the entire place carried the melody for her.

But it was when she began Hold Out Your Hand that something inside me cracked open.

The lights softened.
The rhythm began.
And thousands of strangers started to move together.


We danced.

We lifted our hands.

We sang about hope and forgiveness and loving one another anyway.

For three minutes and thirty seconds, the world felt like it could be mended.

The next morning, I came back to the studio and looked at the new Holden Star leaning against the wall.


Strong lines.
Bold corners.
Light and dark meeting in the center.

It felt different after that night.

The Holden Star isn’t delicate. It doesn’t whisper.
It stands steady.

It feels like the shape of courage.
Like the geometry of community.
Like what happens when we choose to hold out our hands instead of clenching them.

Stars have always symbolized guidance — something steady to look toward when the road feels uncertain. But this one feels more human to me. Less about finding your way alone… more about finding your way together.

Maybe that’s why it needed that song.

Maybe that’s why it was born this week.

Art does this sometimes

A song opens a door.
A painting walks through it.

The Holden Star is now available as a finished barn quilt, a DIY kit, and a pattern   but more than that, it feels like a small offering.

A reminder to:

Stand steady.
Sing loudly.
Dance when you can.
And when the world feels heavy…

Hold out your hand.

With Love from the Studio,



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Thursday

Blue Belle Painted in Windmill Sky & Bluebird Morning

Yesterday I shared a little reel of me painting Blue Belles with soft petals unfolding in shades of Windmill Sky and Bluebird Morning from the Prairie Paint collection.

There is something about blue flowers.

They don’t shout.
They don’t demand.
They simply bloom.


Blue Belle came to life slowly petal by petal like the first quiet stretch of morning when the house is still and the light begins to shift. I’ve been craving that kind of calm lately. The kind that steadies your breath and reminds you that beauty doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful.

The Colors

Windmill Sky carries that soft, open-air feeling, like standing in a field where the horizon stretches wide and nothing feels confined.

Bluebird Morning is brighter. Hopeful. A color that feels like possibility perched on a fence post.

Together, they feel like spring trying to whisper its way in.



When I began brushing them onto the panel, I wasn’t thinking about perfection. I was thinking about rhythm. About allowing my hand to move the way it moves when I’m stitching or writing. Brushstrokes and stitches aren’t so different. Both are small acts repeated with care.

Why Blue?

Blue has always symbolized:

  • Peace

  • Clarity

  • Devotion

  • Trust

  • Open skies and deep water

In folk art traditions, blue often represents protection and spiritual depth. In nature, blue flowers are rare and because they’re rare, they feel sacred.

Blue Belle feels like that to me. A sacred little bloom.

From Barn Quilts to Florals

Many of you know me through barn quilts and stars, geometry, symmetry, story held in structure. But florals are where my breath softens.

Painting Blue Belle felt like stepping into the softer side of Prairie Paints. The colors are the same. The intention is the same. But the expression is freer.

And I think that’s something I’m leaning into this year ...
structure and softness,
roots and bloom,
brushstroke and stitch.

A Quiet Invitation

If you watched the reel on TikTok or Instagram, thank you for being there while she came to life.

If you haven’t yet, go take a peek  - you’ll see the layers build and the petals open.

And maybe today, you’ll find your own version of Blue Belle:

  • a quiet hour at the table

  • a new color mixed on your palette

  • a stitch begun

  • a seed planted

Beauty doesn’t need to be loud.
It just needs to be tended.

And speaking of practice,  the Creative Caravan is getting closer to the road. I’m planning a series of Open Paint Days very soon. No formal class. No pressure. Just tables, Prairie Paint, florals, stars, and time. A place to gather and create at your own pace. If Blue Belle stirred something in you, these open studio days might be your invitation.



More details coming soon.

With love from the studio,



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Friday

The Dutch Girl Cross Stitch Kit & Pattern — A Folk-Art Heirloom in Stitches

Some designs stay with you.

The Dutch Girl is one of mine.


She began as a barn quilt, bold, geometric, grounded in tradition. Inspired by old-world quilt blocks and the women who stitched stories into fabric long before us, the Dutch Girl has always felt like a tribute to heritage and homemaking.

In her barn quilt form, she is architectural. Strong. Rooted.

But in cross stitch… she softens.

Thread transforms her.

On rich black aida cloth, the prairie blues, minty greens, soft whites, and rosy petals glow like stained glass against the night. The geometry remains — the star center, the layered points, the symmetry — but now every shape is built stitch by stitch, one tiny X at a time.



And there is something sacred about that rhythm.

Cross stitch asks us to slow down.
To follow a pattern.
To trust the process.

The Dutch Girl Cross Stitch Kit includes everything needed to bring her to life, carefully selected floss colors, fabric, needle, pattern, and finishing instructions. For those who prefer to pull from their own thread collections, she is also available as a pattern.


Framed in cedar, she becomes a bridge between mediums, barn board and needlework, paint and thread, prairie and parlor.

This piece is for:

  • The heritage stitchers

  • The folk-art lovers

  • The quiet makers who find peace in repetition

  • The women who know that beauty is built slowly

As you stitch her, I hope you feel what I feel when I design these pieces, that we are connected to something older than us. A long line of hands that painted, quilted, stitched, and built homes full of meaning.

The Dutch Girl is available now in the shop.

May she bring steadiness and story to your hands. 🌷

With Love from the Studio,





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Wednesday

Imbolc Winter Florals: Stitching the Return of Light

There is a moment in winter, a quiet and easily missed moment, when the light begins to return.

Imbolc lives in that moment. The days are still cold, the ground still resting beneath frost, but something unseen has shifted. The sun lingers just a little longer. Seeds hold steady in the dark. The work of becoming has already begun.

The Imbolc Winter Floral Embroidery Kits were created to honor this threshold.


A Season of Quiet Tending

Imbolc is not about blooming yet, it is about tending.

This collection invites slow stitching by lamplight, a practice of patience, reflection, and trust in what is forming beneath the surface. Each motif was chosen not just for its beauty, but for the story it carries.

  • Pinecone reminds us that potential is protected until the time is right.



  • Juniper berry offers cleansing and protection, a clearing of old energy.

  • Winter rose blooms in unlikely conditions, symbolizing endurance and quiet strength.

  • Snowdrop, one of the first flowers to emerge through frozen ground, carries the promise of hope and renewal.

Together, they form a winter wreath — a circle of resilience and faith in the return of light.  You can find kits for the Imbolc Winter Florals in the shop as a full kit or as a pattern. 

Stitching as Ritual

These kits are meant to be more than a finished piece, they are an invitation to slow your hands and your thoughts. To sit with winter rather than rush past it. To mark the season intentionally, one stitch at a time.

Many makers choose to pair this embroidery with a small ritual:

  • stitching at dawn or dusk

  • lighting a candle before beginning

  • reflecting on what is being quietly prepared in their own lives


Carrying the Season Forward

Imbolc is not an ending.
It is the beginning of the beginning.

As you stitch these winter florals, you are participating in an old, quiet tradition: honoring the moment before growth becomes visible. Trusting what is forming. Making space for light. May this piece accompany you gently into the next season.

With love from the studio,



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Sunday

The Dutch Girl Star: A Folk Tradition Painted Forward

There is something deeply comforting about a star.

Across cultures and generations, stars have marked homes, guided travelers, and quietly reminded us where the center is. The Dutch Girl Star was born from that feeling, a desire to paint something joyful and steady, rooted in folk tradition yet bright enough to feel alive in the present moment.

This design takes its name and spirit from old-world European folk art.  The painted cupboards, hex signs, quilts, and hand worked details that filled farmhouses with color and meaning. These were not decorations made for trends. They were painted to bless a home, to bring beauty into daily life, and to quietly say: you are safe here.

At the heart of the Dutch Girl Star is symmetry, strong geometry softened by color. Each point of the star leads the eye inward, creating a feeling of movement and calm at the same time. This balance is intentional. In folk traditions, stars often symbolized protection, guidance, and harmony within the household.

The color palette carries its own quiet story. Soft aqua and cream bring light and freshness, while deep black grounds the design and gives it weight. Leafy greens nod to growth and renewal, and the warm red accents add just enough boldness - a reminder that joy belongs alongside steadiness.

Together, these vibrant Prairie Paint colors create a star that feels playful but anchored, lively yet timeless.

Painted by Hand, One Layer at a Time

Each Dutch Girl Star barn quilt is hand-painted on wood, layer by layer, allowing the texture of the surface and the brushstrokes to remain visible. This is important to me. Folk art was never meant to be perfect, it was meant to be felt. The slight variations, the way the paint settles into the grain, the quiet evidence of the maker’s hand, these are what give the piece its soul.

Framed in natural cedar, the design is finished in a way that honors both the artwork and the material itself. Whether hung indoors or outside, the Dutch Girl Star is made to weather time gracefully.

It can hang above a hearth, welcome guests from a porch wall, or bring color to a garden or studio space. It fits just as easily in a modern farmhouse as it does in a cottage or cabin...a reminder that tradition doesn’t have to feel old, and handmade beauty always has a place.

The Dutch Girl Star is, at its heart, a celebration of home, of color, of inherited creativity, and of the quiet joy found in making something with care.

May it shine over your space as a symbol of welcome, warmth, and the simple beauty of things made by hand.

With love from the studio,


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